Tim, your videos are awesome! You are probably the #1 contributer to many of the building and flying techniques I've incorporated into my rockets since I've rediscovered the hobby in my later years. One suggestion I've found very useful in my fillets is the use of some alcohol to dilute my epoxy putties followed by using a larger ball bearing to burnish my fillets to an exact radius throughout. This also makes feathering the edges a breeze. The size of your fillet radius can be adjusted by using different size ball bearing and adjusting the gap between the body tube and and fin. The tape also makes the body tube much more resilient to the moisture from the alcohol. Give this a try and with a little practice you're going to be even more pleased with the finished product. Thanks again. As a side note, you might want to check your microphone cables for a lifted ground. There is quite a bit of buzz in your audio chain. I'm looking forward to purchasing from you soon. Keep up the great work!
With the epoxy and fillers you can make beautiful fillets, I've done that on occasion when I was willing to put the time into it. For most of my rockets that I fly I go cheap and use yellow wood glue like in the old days. It takes time, a long time, but is easy. I put a layer on 2 fillets, carefully pull my finger over it to get the smooth concave surface, and let it dry an hour. Then put on the next 2 and dry for an hour, then put on the next 2... Let all of those completely dry, probably overnight, and repeat the process to put on a second layer. I'll usually do 3 layers and if I'm careful I'll have built up enough for strength and they will be smooth enough to look reasonably good after painting. This takes 3 days of fiddling with it.
I would say the RocketPoxy G5000 is the greatest product for strong fillets. I would like to hear what Tim Van. has to say about comparisons in strength between RocketPoxy vs Epoxy clay?
I use that tape masking trick and it yields very sharp looking fillets. Rocketpoxy is great stuff, all model rocketeers should have it in their bag of tricks. That FixIt epoxy is another nice tool to have, especially for internal rail button fairings. I used it for fillets on a Sky Torpedo just to learn how to use it.
What I do is lightly sand the area of the body tube where I’m going to attach the fins in order to rough up the surface a little bit. Next I use white Elmers glue just on the root edge to get fins glued into the correct position. Finally, I use five minute epoxy and a toothpick and I apply a nice weld bead like fillet around the entire fin. Once it’s dry, you have a strong and beautiful joint with no mess, and no sanding.
I really like the liquid epoxy idea! All the advantages of yellow glue without being runny (and easy to work with compared to the putty epoxies). 2 Questions... 1) Which fillet method is best for lightest weight? 2) Are these epoxies compatible with plastic (polystyrene)?
Tim, your videos are awesome! You are probably the #1 contributer to many of the building and flying techniques I've incorporated into my rockets since I've rediscovered the hobby in my later years. One suggestion I've found very useful in my fillets is the use of some alcohol to dilute my epoxy putties followed by using a larger ball bearing to burnish my fillets to an exact radius throughout. This also makes feathering the edges a breeze. The size of your fillet radius can be adjusted by using different size ball bearing and adjusting the gap between the body tube and and fin. The tape also makes the body tube much more resilient to the moisture from the alcohol. Give this a try and with a little practice you're going to be even more pleased with the finished product. Thanks again. As a side note, you might want to check your microphone cables for a lifted ground. There is quite a bit of buzz in your audio chain. I'm looking forward to purchasing from you soon. Keep up the great work!
Totally agree! For someone coming back into the hobby after 35 years, Tim is gold!
This is a great video series. Thank you Tim for taking the time to share your knowledge with us.
With the epoxy and fillers you can make beautiful fillets, I've done that on occasion when I was willing to put the time into it. For most of my rockets that I fly I go cheap and use yellow wood glue like in the old days. It takes time, a long time, but is easy. I put a layer on 2 fillets, carefully pull my finger over it to get the smooth concave surface, and let it dry an hour. Then put on the next 2 and dry for an hour, then put on the next 2... Let all of those completely dry, probably overnight, and repeat the process to put on a second layer. I'll usually do 3 layers and if I'm careful I'll have built up enough for strength and they will be smooth enough to look reasonably good after painting. This takes 3 days of fiddling with it.
I would say the RocketPoxy G5000 is the greatest product for strong fillets. I would like to hear what Tim Van. has to say about comparisons in strength between RocketPoxy vs Epoxy clay?
I use that tape masking trick and it yields very sharp looking fillets. Rocketpoxy is great stuff, all model rocketeers should have it in their bag of tricks. That FixIt epoxy is another nice tool to have, especially for internal rail button fairings. I used it for fillets on a Sky Torpedo just to learn how to use it.
What I do is lightly sand the area of the body tube where I’m going to attach the fins in order to rough up the surface a little bit. Next I use white Elmers glue just on the root edge to get fins glued into the correct position. Finally, I use five minute epoxy and a toothpick and I apply a nice weld bead like fillet around the entire fin. Once it’s dry, you have a strong and beautiful joint with no mess, and no sanding.
I really like the liquid epoxy idea! All the advantages of yellow glue without being runny (and easy to work with compared to the putty epoxies). 2 Questions... 1) Which fillet method is best for lightest weight? 2) Are these epoxies compatible with plastic (polystyrene)?
Anyone want to chime in and answer this question?
Does the Rocketpoxy have much shrinkage once its cured?
How do you measure that? Please let us know what you find out when you do an experiment.
Why not put 'winglets' onto your fins to reduce drag?
What do you think? Why don't any high performance rockets have winglets?
@@apogeerockets instability?
@@trevorglasgow3120 No. On rockets, they add extra drag
@@apogeerocketsohhhh thanks!